Harry and Hermione in Halkeginia
by Sweet Kagamine Kiss
Summary: The magical feudal society of Halkeginia filled with aristocrats for whom heritage equals power is no place for two magic users who do not know of the Papacy of the Founder Brimir. But Harry and Hermione were survivors, even if in a strange world with two moons.


**Harry and Hermione in Halkeginia**

**Disclaimer:** J.K Rowling has supreme ownership of the **Harry Potter** franchise as the creator and writer, with the companies that published the seven books all around the world, and Warner Bros. for our movie adaptations. **The Familiar of Zero** (ゼロの使い魔 Zero no Tsukaima) and all of its known official characters, concepts, locations, and its anime adapt is owned by Noboru Yamaguchi. All I own is this idea of a story.

**Author's Note:** This pretty much will not be much of a story. It's something that came to and well... I wrote it out. I won't expand on it because it is meant to be a one shot.

* * *

In the country known as Tristian, in the city known as Tristania (located in the northwest of the land known as Halkeginia), there are two teenagers traveling across the rooftops in running sprints. Most humans on Earth would call this parkour. One has semi-lock unruly dark hair and sharp green eyes, the other auburn brown long hair and a darker shade of brown eyes.

The male wore what would be called Chinese pants back on Earth with cerulean color tinting the precious silk material, with custom-made dark sandals and comfortable socks. Wrapped around the waist of the pants as a type of belt is a silk red sash; the extra length is tied in a secure knot and hangs off the right frontal position of his hip at nine inches in length. Twin holsters are looped on each hip of the sash; the right holds a short wakizashi that the young man found five years ago off a dead bandit, and on the left is this world's version of a gun, an 18th century Flintlock Pistol. This particular gun was customized with magic, and the handle holds a small oval gemstone on its bottom surrounded by a decorative brass band. A single satchel at small-medium size is also looped on the sash close to the gun holster containing ammunition. He also wears a no-sleeve Chinese vest that is green with a type of swirling cerulean, red, and white artistic design, ornamental gold buttons on front, and is shirtless under the buttoned lightly-armored vest.

The female wore a type of Chinese dress or qípáo, that is ruby red with white and pink-tinted cherry blossom petals decorating along the back and spirals around to the frontal right, and is semi-fitting around the waist and bust area of the body, with puffed shoulders and short sleeves that end just at the biceps. The dress portion of the qípáo is loose-fitting, the length ending three inches before reaching the ankles, and is at a triangular split along the sides just two inches below the hips, and she wore silk red panties under this dress. She is also wearing long white leather boots, red and black-striped thigh highs, and have gold bangles clipped around the ankles. The thing slightly out of place on her outfit is a leather belt around the toned waistline with three small satchels and a holster for a silver and gold-handled notched dagger.

These small-sized satchels on both teenagers have been worked with magical precision to perform the same large storage capabilities as their old moleskin pouch. Both wore a type of armored vambrace on their arms for protection, and both wore matching white cloaks of elf design over their outfits with hoods which have a pointed beak-shape design. Of course, now that we've passed the description department, these two teenagers were rushing away from fat lazy guards that tried to arrest them simply for stopping a corrupt noble from harassing the servant girls at the Charming Faeries' Inn much to Scarron's relief.

Both teens reach the end of the road, so-to-speak, and without hesitating, leap over the edges and land safely inside a passing cart filled with hay. The driver keeping his horses from running into busy foot traffic never heard the thumps as the wagon just ran over a bump in the road. The guards would rush to the edge of that roof and lose track of their suspects. After making sure the guards had given up the chase, they exit the wagon's storage of horse feed and quickly head through the crowds towards the gate leading south. But first, a quick trip to the market in the area for some fruit to snack on...

=0=0=0=0=

Eight years ago, some strange green portal appeared out of nowhere when they were running away from Snatchers in the Dean Forest. They didn't see it until it was far too late and they had vanished in the portal just as borderline dark curses and hexes had washed the area they once were. When they woke up, they found themselves regressed to the age of eight. The moment they realized they were, to quote from the movie _The Wizard of Oz_, "not in Kansas, anymore," was when that dark night fleeing through the woods to evade snatchers, the moon had duplicated into two and one was red, the other blue. They still had their survivor supplies along with the moleskin backpack customized from a handle bag.

They went from a dense forest, to a large grassy clearing with wild flowers here and there, a lake in the distance, and dancing fireflies. It took awhile to get used to the fact that somehow they were in a different world, and that they were no longer teenagers. But they nonetheless set up their wizard tent after trekking to the lake. As they went exploring, they came across a town that following morning, and with some clever language translation charms got the information these two former teens wanted. However, there was a problem. There was a war going on back in their home world, and he was now gone. They dared to say the Dark Lord's name, Voldemort... no Death Eaters showed up. They were effectively cut off from their world.

Their names are Harry Potter and Hermione Granger. It's been eight years and they have gotten use to the fact that they would no longer be able to get back to their home world, and defeat Voldemort once and for all. They were worried for the friends that they were cut away from, leaving them at the evil clutches of Voldemort. During their time in this strange new world, Harry no longer held any feelings for Ginny because they went towards Hermione, the only girl who has always been at his side through thick and thin, through controversy and accusinations, and when Voldemort had taken control of the Ministry she still stayed by him.

Hermione had always felt a thing for Harry but along the way she also started to experience romantic interests for Ron, but on the many times they would argue, she would be a bit blind. No arguments between potential lovers would constitute a healthy relationship. Her love for Ron broke the day he abandoned them. They experimented with a potential relationship between them, and as they grew up (again), this relationship turned real. They loved one another. Harry pretty much told Hermione that he would likely long be dead if she was never there in his life to practically get his ass out of the hot plate time and again. And Hermione felt Harry was her rock in the sea of chaos.

Another thing that happened was that the cursed scar on Harry's forehead started to heal, the pains and the apparent connection no longer inflicting his dreams as he slept. What they didn't know was that the portal had destroyed that connection when they fell through it, thus destroying the tiny shard of the Dark Lord's soul that lingered in the soul. Time and history has a way of settling things on its own. On Earth, Voldemort made one mistake when he was terrorizing the muggle world: he allowed his terror to spill outside Europe, thus getting the ICW involved. The Ministry of Magic was taken by force by combined wizards and military soldiers from the United States, Canada, Asia, Japan, China, Australia, Africa, and Egypt. The Dark Lord had caused one too many problems because the British magical society had allowed this chaos to grow out of control.

But the moment Voldemort daringly attacked the Royal Crown when Queen Elizabeth was visited by the U.S. President, the muggles had enough. Even before the dreaded 9/11 Attack in the United States that caused the collapse of the World Trade Center, Wizarding Britain never believed in working with their muggle counterpart unlike the Americans, the Japanese, and the Asians. The attempted murder of the royal crown and the U.S. President had the muggles step in and stop the war for the lazy British wizards. Sometimes, you have to be forced to take a step into the future. Voldemort's terror finally brought the muggles into this war and ended it quickly. So Harry Potter was never truly needed in defeating Voldemort once and for all. The British Ministry of Magic was changed for good, with new regulations, rules, and laws, while destroying old laws that in the past mostly empowered the pureblood supremacists who supported the Dark Lord while also suppressing the rights of the muggleborn.

The muggle world is still mostly unaware of the wizarding world because most muggle governments now help keep the secret (only high ranking government officials are let in on their existence following examples from the American government). In Britain, the man Kingsley Shacklebolt became the Minister for Magic, and ever since the defeat of Voldemort by warlock specialists from America and Japan, many have been wondering what happened to Harry and Hermione. When it was discovered their third friend, or former friend, Ron Weasley had abandoned them during the search for Voldemort's Horcruxes, people have been searching high and low for the missing magicals. They couldn't be found anywhere. There was a project spearheaded by the British Ministry: The Search for Harry and Hermione.

Neville and his wife Susan were part of the Ministry group that dedicated in the search for their missing friends. Others that worked on this were Luna Lovegood, who was an Unspeakable Agent in the Department of Mysteries. Hannah Abbot, Daphne Greengrass and Tracy Davis surprisingly enough, and Remus and Tonks did what he could now that he was more free with Umbridge's regulations for muggleborns and racist-like creature laws abolished. As for Ron Weasley... well he never got his dream of being an Auror, or even to play Quidditch for the Chudley Cannons. He's today working a low-end job with limited education because he never finished his magical schooling. He's working as a clerk/stock wizard at Fred and George's prank shop in Diagon Alley.

Many would have given up many years ago in the mystery behind the disappearance of Harry and Hermione, however the goblins have continued to report that the Potter and Black Vaults was still accessible, and that the heirs to both clans was STILL alive. It was only this that everyone involved in this project continued to search for Harry and Hermione. If there was one thing that people believed; Harry and Hermione regardless of Ron Weasley being in the picture were inseparable.

If only they knew their missing friends were alive... and in another world...

=0=0=0=0=

"Harry... do you really believe we'll find her at the academy?"

"Yeah, honey. The school has this magic vault that is said to hold lots of rare items and treasure, used as a lock-up for the kingdom of Tristania. It's a high profile target for someone like Fouquet of the Crumbling Earth.

The couple was riding two horses down the worn dirt path heading in the direction of the Tristanian Academy of Magic.

"Lucky we were able to find these horses and buy them. I mean magic parkour would be fun traveling the countryside but sometimes, there's something about horseback that makes it more peaceful..."

"Ignoring the bandits that target commoners and nobles alike, rogue mercenaries, and the occasional criminal that escaped prison," Harry adds.

Three years ago, they met with an elf tribe and had befriended them after proving that they weren't like the magic users of this world. The Elf Elder knew they were humans from the world that mirrored theirs. Basically, the elves taught Harry and Hermione how to harness the ambient magical energy this world was rich in. It harmonized with their magical cores after six months of training and they could use what the nobles call "first born magic". The magic they can harness from this world was used to increase their stamina, strengthen their magical cores, and also optimize their parkour skill.

Their wizard wands have since been used as tools to fool the nobles should the occasion arise. Bleeding some of the magic into their bodies when they parkour across city rooftops, or through the branches of forests, well they could do things that would appear almost super-human. No, they're not trained assassins. And it was that tribe where Harry and Hermione were given the cloaks that they now wear today over their outfits.

"Hey Mione, any idea how long until we arrive at the Academy?"

"A couple of hours if we continue at this pace," she answers. "I hear Princess Henrietta is visiting the school today, so if we're lucky..."

Harry scoffs. "Like we'll be able to say hello to the princess... she's likely to have guards twenty-four seven..."

At least two hours of traveling later...

BOOM!

At the Tristanian Academy of Magic, a tsundere named Louise Françoise le Blanc de la Vallière had "punished" her familiar, a sixteen year old Japanese teenager named Saito Hiraga. Poor otaku-like bastard, summoned by a mage who really has the power of the Void, as preached in the teachings of the Founder Brimir and the Holy Church.

In the corner, a talking black sword just sighs at the chaos Derflinger was going to be involved with. But he now had a lot of entertainment to listen to, instead of slowly rusting up in that barrel back in the smith shop in the city. Or in that grave when he got buried with Sasha... he didn't know which was worse: the barrel or the grave.

Harry and Hermione heard the explosion and wondered what the hell was going on, as their horses trotted up towards the gates.

"Halt."

There were guards stationed at the gates leading into the academy's grounds.

"Identify yourself."

"I am Lord Harry Potter and this is the Lady Hermione Granger. We are here on a tip that the wanted criminal Fouquet of the Crumbling Earth plans to strike the vault within this school to steal sacred artifacts or treasure. We're here to capture the thief and bring him bound to the palace dungeons."

The two guards never heard of any noble families with the names Potter and Granger. They also couldn't detect how smoothly Harry lied about the wanted criminal that has been the talk of nobles for the past few weeks back in the city.

"We do not know of any noble family of Potter and Granger. They sound... like commoner names."

Harry and Hermione glared their perfected "I am nobility" looks. Potter back on Earth WAS a family of ancient nobility in the wizarding world, however. They don't know that. They wouldn't understand, either.

"Watch your tongue, sir. In Albion, to speak of my family's name in such slander would have you chained and hung for years for such transgressions." Then his glare turned cold. "Besides... We are the LAST of our families as we are the lone survivors of a massacre that claimed the lives of our loved ones."

And Hermione punctuates this by lifting her right arm. In a SHHIIINK-fashioned sound, her wizarding wand shoots from the small mechanism under the vambrace and into her hand which she points at the guard. A ball of fire generates at the tip, just waiting to be released.

"We have traveled long; have dealt with petty bandits and rogue mercenaries. I'd advise you to allow us passage so we may meet with the Headmaster of this establishment."

The male also produced his wand in a similar manner, only producing a swirly mist that looks like frosting ice. Well, they had wands, so to the guards, they were nobility. Only nobles can use any magic of the four pentagrams.

"We apologize. We are simply doing our job for her majesty Princess Henrietta de Tristian who is visiting the academy for the Evaluation Fair tomorrow."

"To protect her majesty is your sworn duty. We understand how you take your jobs seriously. And personally, we are glad you will protect your princess, your future queen."

The two teens sheathe their wands back into their vambraces. The guards allowed them entry into the courtyards, seeing no other reason to not bar them entry. Unfortunately, the guards have heard of rumors of bad things happening in Albion, and likely they believed that certain noble families may have been wiped out in the ensuing troubles that threatened the White Country. By tomorrow, visitors from the city would also come by to watch in the spectacle of nobles and their families doing tricks and magic to wow the audiences. But... gate duty was boring at times...

The couple brought their horses to a stable they spy, and tying their reigns to posts, they walk towards the school's front entrance, enamored by the impressive gardens and the beauty and tranquility of the foundation. Almost as mystifying as Hogwarts held once upon a young child's time. The doors were open so they simply walk into the main hall, taking in the sights of their surroundings. This was their first time even coming this far into Tristian's area of the country.

"Amazing place, huh babe?"

"Yeah... Simply wonderful..."

The sound of a clearing throat got the two turn to see a man with a staff and balding hair.

"May I help you?"

Harry smiles politely to the glasses-wearing man. "Hello. My name's Harry Potter. This is my love for life, Hermione Granger. We traveled far to come to this academy."

"I see. Welcome. I'm Professor Jean Colbert, one of the teachers at this school. May I ask why you have traveled far? You look to still be young."

"Sixteen, actually, and we've had a taste of what the world can give us traveling all around Halkeginia, my good sir," Hermione answers.

"But we are also here officially on a form of business. May we speak with your Headmaster of this school? It involves the wanted criminal Fouquet of the Crumbling Earth."

Colbert stared at them, but the looks he got from the two young teenagers were very serious. And the name of the wanted thief dropped almost casually... they had to be serious. Were they bounty hunters, perhaps? Mercenaries would be a more proper term but they don't wear much armor aside the vambraces he spies on their arms. And Colbert took careful note of the cloaks they wore; it was definitely not made by human hands. It looked more elvish...

"Come with me."

Colbert leads Harry and Hermione away, whom ignore the looks they get from passing students of the school. They still had their hoods up so they gave off mysterious appearances to the other nobles. Eventually, Harry and Hermione were brought to this school's Headmaster. Upon seeing the old man with the long white beard, Harry was almost painfully reminded of Dumbledore. The man smiles politely to the two as he marks the page of the book he was reading from and had closed it.

"Hello. Welcome to the Tristanian Academy of Magic."

"Hello sir, my name's Harry Potter. This is Hermione Granger."

"We're here on official business regarding a target we have been after for quite some time. You may know him as Fouquet of the Crumbling Earth."

Hermione noted that the man, who introduced himself as simply Old Man Osmond, sat straighter at the thief's name being uttered.

"The thief is targeting your school, sir. We have heard confirmed rumors of the thief plotting to break into the vault your school hosts for the royal family in storing sacred artifacts and the assortment of treasures. We have traveled here in the attempt of capturing the thief."

"I see," Osmond says softly.

"And Harry and I are also doing this on a more personal reason. You see... we're from a noble clan in Albion. But when the troubles have begun, our families, partners for many years, were wiped out by a faction that wants to control Albion. Our parents ordered our caretakers to slip us during the night and to safety, giving us special treasures that would identify us with the birth rights of our deceased families. But three years ago, we ran into Fouquet who had stolen our special treasure, our heirloom protected by our families, from us."

Hermione adds to the story. "When we capture the thief, we will also be taking back what belongs to our dead families. Then we can finally unionize our two families together in holy matrimony."

"I am very sorry to hear the loss of your families, Sir Potter and Lady Granger. Unfortunately, even I have heard of the troubles inflicting Albion as of late. You have my condolences, and I hope that you do recover what is most precious to you."

They bow their heads in respect. Mentally, they were smirking. Cover stories were a flawless execution. The old man bought it.

_Now let's hope Matilda understands if we find her, and she returns to Tiffania,_ Harry thought, as the two teens continue to discuss with Osmond, while Colbert had a servant bring up some tea to the office after summoning one.

By the end of the day, Osmond has given them guest rooms where they can rest. With the possible threat of the school being attacked by the wanted criminal Fouquet, the two nobles who were used to the life of bounty hunting would be successful in the capture the bane of most nobles in all of Tristian, a capture that has eluded most others in the past years.

Hermione waved her wand, locking the doors and casting another spell to block their discussion from being heard from outsiders.

"That was so Slytherin of you, Harry."

Harry laughs. "Well the Sorting Hat wanted to put me in Slytherin. I didn't go because of my first impression of that git Malfoy."

Hermione smiles as she unties her boots and then slides her feet out, leaving her in the thigh high socks which are also peeled off. "Yeah, well... he is an annoying asshole. Now what, Harry? That is the story we often use when confronted by nobles so it gives us some credit. Although our magic is very much different from his world's magical spectrum according to the elves."

Harry was unbuttoning his vest before sliding it off, revealing that yummy torso that Hermione loves to press against, especially when they were doing the horizontal tango.

"Well, first off we can take a relaxing bath that does not involve a cold river or lake heated by magic. Then afterwards, we plan our tactics to fight off Matilda in her thief disguise. Hopefully we can get her to make a sounding retreat without the vault being breached. Then we track her down, show her the pendant Tiffania gave us and hope she comes to her senses and return to that poor half-elf girl. What a lovely girl she was..."

"Harry I caught you staring at her breasts when we first met her," Hermione deadpans.

Harry had the decency to blush.

"Sweetie, her breasts were like... they were huge, Hermione! If I was more a sexual pervert, I could do so many nasty things with them. Like maybe stick my-"

Hermione clocks her boyfriend in the head with one of her thrown boots. Harry winced at the stinging pain where the boot impacts.

"And just what about poor beautiful me, my darling Lord Potter...? What about your future lovely wife, the Lady Potter?" Hermione fake-cries and turns away in a dramatic way.

"_Accio_ Hermione."

Hermione lets out a surprised shout when Harry summons her from the chair to the bed where she is caught in his strong arms and he started to unbutton the dress top. Once the dress is parted, his hands reach down into the loosen dress top and start tickling at her sides, making her squeal in laughter.

"The Lord Potter enjoys tickling his beautiful beloved," he says, a wicked smile on his face as Hermione kicks about. Harry enjoyed tickling her like this at times. He stops momentarily to unstrap her dagger holster on her thigh, and toss it onto the floor next to his untied sash and weapon. But Hermione spins around, recovering quickly and pins him down to the bed. Her hands pin his wrists, holding his arms up and over his head as she straddles at his waist.

"You know I'm stronger than you, babe."

"I know," she whispers almost sexily.

She leans down and their lips lock with a kiss. That bath wouldn't be for awhile as they got lost in one another's passion.

The next morning was the day of the Evaluation Fair. It was getting busy as visitors would travel and make their arrivals in grandeur fashions. In the Aviss Dining Hall, Harry and Hermione have magically cleaned her outfits and made themselves look not only presentable to the eyes of the noble children in the dining hall, but also to the school entirely as well as look positively exotic in their clothing from Rub' al Khali. There was silence amongst the nobles as they were stared at walking casually into the room. From his position with the "food" given to him by Louise, Saito could not believe what he was seeing. He recognized the clothing worn on the two strangers.

From his seat Osmond stands and smiles. "Good morning to you both."

"Good morning, Headmaster Osmond," they greet the man politely.

"Everyone, I would like to formally introduce Lord Harry Potter, and his Lady Hermione Granger. They are guests here at the academy, from Albion. They are also here on business, so make them feel welcomed. Harry, Hermione, please join us here at the table."

"We'd be delighted, sir," said Harry, as he and Hermione walk around the large dining table and towards where the staff sat and sit down in two empty chairs Colbert had brought in earlier today before the students filled the hall. They were sitting between Osmond and Colbert.

There were some hushed whispers amongst the children on the student tables, and Harry and Hermione could hear the words commoner tossed about. Louise stopped staring so she could get with her breakfast.

"That young man with the green eyes," Louise hears Kirche whisper dreamily, "I never seen such a shade like his. They remind me of pure emeralds."

"Strong," came the almost whisper of Tabitha.

"What? What do you mean, Tabitha?" Kirche asks.

"Both strong," the blue-haired girl clarifies, before taking a bite of her breakfast.

Louise looks away from Kirche and Tabitha and stared at the young couple that looked no older than their ages. She reckoned they were sixteen or seventeen years of age. They ate together, and talked casually, the girl laughing when the boy told her something that must be funny, like a joke. And the boy would smile fondly to the girl who matches this fondness of love. She ignores them now. They must be nobles, Louise thought. After all, no commoner would ever be allowed to sit amongst them.

=0=0=0=0=

Harry and Hermione were wandering around the courtyard, waiting until the ticking hours passed and this Evaluation Fair would begin for the students of this year whom had summoned their familiars from the Springtime Ritual. Harry was a bit bored at the moment, absentmindedly drawing and retracting his wand on the vambrace it was connected to via the storage mechanism device.

"Harry, stop that."

"Sorry love. Just a bit bored at the moment," he says.

Harry stopped deploying and retracting his wand, and lowers his arm to his side.

There was a nearby tree that was very tall, surrounded by flowers. Harry smirked and rushed right over before running the few steps up and then grabbing the nearest sturdy branch and yanks himself up.

"Harry, I'm wearing a dress here."

He gave her a grin. "So?"

She gave him the middle finger as a reply, but quickly follows as her boyfriend continues to parkour up to the tallest spot on that tree, her in quick pursuit. Soon, the couple stands on the tallest branch that supported their weight, almost on the tiptoes as they look across their broadened horizon of the academy. They did catch the attention of some of the guards that was here with the Princess Henrietta and a couple of the school's students, two of them Kirche and Tabitha. The wind seems to blow, gracing them a mystifying aura as the loose parts of their clothing seem to ripple in the drifts of the breeze.

Then to the shock of their small audience they leap off the branch and freefall to the dirt. But the couple deploys their wands and cast the Cushioning Charm at the ground. They flip forward once and land on their feet with a slight crouching of their legs, the supposedly solid dirt and grass as soft as gelatin rubber or cotton. No pain. With a subtle gesture of their wands the charm is undone and then they are sheathed again. The couple smiles to one another and walk off to explore the rest of the courtyard. The servants returned to setting up the chairs for the outdoor event.

From the office, Osmond had seen this unfolded event and was very intrigued by his two special guests. An hour later, the bells tolled with a harmonious tone, signaling the start to the event. The two teens sat somewhere in the back, as the second-year students and their familiars one by one go up and perform magical acts with their summoned familiars. Harry and Hermione applaud politely for each performance they and all guests to the Evaluation Fair and the other students witness during this event. In their mind, the two magicals saw the young woman Kirche to be a close third place, with the younger blue-haired girl and her dragon familiar likely taking first place.

The last student to emerge was the pink-haired girl from earlier this morning along with a boy in a parka jacket. Her name was Louise Vallière, apparently. But the two were staring more at the dark-haired Japanese teenager with the black sword strapped to his back.

_Another Earthican..._

Harry noted the look from Hermione and he gave her the tiniest of nods.

"My name is Louise Françoise le Blanc de la Vallière, and this is my familiar-"

"Saito Hiraga," Harry speaks up, standing up from his seat. All eyes were turned towards the green-eyed wizard/mage.

_Thank you Hermione for you sexy brilliance._ "_Watashi wa, anata ga jibun jishin ni kenshi o kangaeru to kiite imasu_ (I hear that you deem yourself a swordsman)..."

Harry smiled more, now that his use of Japanese had fully caught the teenager's attention.

"_Anata ga nihongo o hanasu_ (You speak Japanese)?" Saito asks the green-eyed young man.

"A mage having a human familiar... it seems to ring a bell to me, but for the life of me I cannot recall what it is I'm trying to remember. But oh well, it'll come to me eventually. You seem to carry that sword well. The size and weight would give it a heavy appearance, and yet you carry it like it was the weight of a single feather. I wonder what a human familiar can do when facing another sword user. How about it? A duel, Saito Hiraga...?"

"Are you a-"

"Commoner? Certainly not, sir. I'm a mage much like the young Lady Vallière. Of course, I'm also of honor and do not betray like most nobles."

Whether it was meant as a slight of insult or not was to be determined. Harry lifts his right vambrace up and with a SHIIINK, the wand deploys out. He deftly grabs the wooden wand before tossing it to his left. The wand is then caught in the two fingers of his beloved Hermione. Then with a slight displace of magic, somersaults from his spot, over the audience and lands on the opposite of the stage behind Saito who immediately turns around to face him. Louise was worried a bit. This guy WAS a mage like her and the others, and yet... he wanted to fight her familiar?

Harry draws his short sword from his waist.

"You trust your human familiar, Miss Vallière? Then allow him to show how worthy you are of having such a wondrous warrior with skills that most nobles I have encountered rarely possess."

Louise was quickly told to get off the stage just as Harry sprinted at Saito, who barely got Derf out to block the downward strike. Harry smirked.

"_Watashi ni sukiru o hyōji_ (Show me your skills)!" Harry yelled, rearing back and slashes again. Saito blocked this attack and ran out of the way. Harry slowly turned on his heels and moves slowly, stalking like a predator hunting for its prey.

Hermione chuckles amusingly.

"Ahh Harry... Don't tease him too much."

This caught Kirche's attention.

"Excuse me, but he's a mage? Why doesn't he use his wand?"

"Because my boyfriend likes to sometimes limit himself like a commoner when it comes to the duel of swords. Only true practitioners of the blade will understand that magic doesn't mean everything in this world of ours."

Hermione draws her notched dagger, twirling it like it was a trick knife.

"I myself am also versed in using this nifty weapon of mine. We got this and the clothes we wear from the city of Rub' al Khali..."

Guiche sitting behind Kirche, gasped, as did several others around her having heard Hermione's naming of the city. "I've heard of that place! It's said to be beyond the desert plains!"

Hermione smirked.

"Yes. It's a very interesting city to visit. It's almost as exotic as Romalia's capital. If you ever brave the desert and reach Rub' al Khali, you should definitely check the city's shopping district near the bazaar."

"Have you ever run into elves?" questioned a fat-looking noble boy.

"Nope," she lied.

The action on the stage got lively again as the sounds of blades clashing grabbed the students' attention. Harry had enough teasing Saito with feints and went in with real strikes. If you believe that a person with a long sword would have the advantage over someone with a shorter sword, then it WOULD be an easy win for Saito in the very least. However, its experience that speaks. Saito may have had Derflinger for a short time since Louise took her familiar to the city to get armed with a weapon, but Harry has had his wakizashi for a lot longer and had yielded it, having the experience to use it.

Harry was again lying about earlier. He and Hermione knew about Brimir and how this world's founder had created four runes that would mark a mage as a Void User. A Void User was identified apparently by having a human for a familiar. They had heard of the Mad King of Gallia, and have met one of the Void Familiars on a wild encounter. On the final attack, Saito's runes glowed a bit and the blade was angled to fully block his move. But almost immediately, Saito angles the blade so the weapons create sparks as he slides forward, the teen moved to the side and cuts inward. Only with quickness of his feet Harry evades getting a cut in the side or a cut into his vest.

"There... now I see your skills," Harry comments.

Saito now went on the offensive, and Harry was now put on the defense. The few times there were close calls, Harry would use his armored vambraces to block the attacks. This reverse of the duel lasted up to three minutes, and then Harry's wakizashi went flying into the air by Saito's disarm. Hermione caught the weapon before it hit Kirche and she gets up off her seat as Saito charged in and started slashing but Harry used his vambraces to block each strike. Over and over, the metal on metal contact rang in the silent yard, and grew in faster intensity before Saito overextended on the last hit and Harry manages to reverse Derf and brought the blade angled along Saito's neck. Saito was struggling, trying to prevent from getting his neck cut open.

"So... this is the skills of which you hold?"

Hermione had since walked down the empty path and up onto the stage via the front steps. She walks in a circle around the two struggling teens. Their captive audience was expressing faces of shock, awe, and surprise. None more surprised than Saito's Familiar master, Louise.

"Very interesting you are, Mister Saito Hiraga. You have the skills, the finesse to use such a long sword like you do. It is a weapon that is to be wielded only with two hands, and yet you can easily use one hand. It speaks of your hidden strength."

She runs a hand along the Japanese boy's shoulders.

Hermione continues to speak. "Most nobles would train in the use of swords, but not many continue to strengthen the skills of swordsmanship because they rather stick with their crafts in mage arts, and it is even less amongst commoners. And yet, you are the prime example of a powerful warrior regardless of status in the world. It only proves that with time, you can very well become a great soldier, a most heroic defender of the innocent, a punisher of the guilty, of the corrupt. Lady Vallière has a great familiar at her hands. One where mage and warrior can strike fear into the hearts of your enemies in the future..."

But she smiles almost with a wicked look as her hand reaches around, and seductively caresses along the Japanese teen's jaw. This almost distracted Saito who continued to keep resisting the otherwise superior strength of his opponent.

"But only if you do not falter..."

The Japanese teen knew that these two were likely from Earth like him. The clothes they wore were of Chinese origin, however having looked upon their faces when he had the chance to as Hermione did that short monologue, saw that they were likely of British descent. But he was confused a bit. They were from Earth. Their clothes and their facial looks proved they were British, and yet his opponent has a wand. A magic wand like the other mages... a question in his mind was this: are they magical?

The sound of something heavy crashing into something sounded in the air. Harry released Saito and his sword while Hermione gave her boyfriend his wand and sword. Another crash is heard and something is seen sticking in the distance by a building. It's not all that hard to miss a mass of earth moving with sentience...

"Oh shit! Someone's attacking the vault!"

"Let's go, Harry! It could be Fouquet!"

A panic descended as a large Earth Golem rose into the air, its hand withdrawing from the catering mark it was creating. Saito still held onto his sword tightly as Louise was running towards Princess Henrietta who was ordering the guards to protect the academy and evacuate the visitors. A person wearing a heavy cloak can be seen on the shoulder of the giant monster as Hermione was sprinting with Harry following after her. Harry draws his pistol and smirked as magic crawls along the weapon with an electrical crackle. Reaching his needed distance between himself and the golem, he pulls the trigger. A lightning magic-charged bullet is fired and it strikes the shoulder, creating an explosion and a medium-sized hole. Earth however melts over, filling the "wound", but it did its job of grabbing the attacker's attention.

"I got your attention now, Fouquet of the Crumbling Earth!"

Hermione had leapt from the tower's roof she climbed up on and onto the golem's arm. She sprinted up the arm, dodging spikes forming in an attempt to impale the witch but Hermione was fast. On the ground Harry ran forward, ignoring the guards. His wand deploys and he takes aim as if it was a gun mounted to the arm. He repeatedly casts the Glacius spell, blasts of wintry frost striking the golem's sides. It wouldn't do much to hinder the towering beast made of compact earth channeled with magical energy.

Hermione almost got close but Fouquet created a wave of mud forcing her to evade and jump down to safety. Landing, she barely dodged its stomps as she sprints fast, wand in hand and lashing out with a fireball variation of the Incendio spell. Harry draws the gun again as magic bathes the weapon, the runes Hermione placed on the weapon reloading with a bullet from the ammo satchel. With magic, gunpowder wouldn't be necessary for this customized weapon. And another pull of the trigger, another small explosion rocks the towering monster of earth from the electrically-charged bullet.

Both teens heard a louder explosion, and see the pinkette having cast the Explosion-like spell. She tried to target the beast but missed and destroyed a portion of the tower where the vault resided. The two had to run to evade the falling debris. Our Earth mage thief laughs in a triumphant manner.

"How delightful! I didn't have to do much of the work. Keep those annoying mages busy!" she orders her earth golem before leaping inside.

Harry cursed and moves towards where the hole was made, and climbs footholds while Hermione distracted the golem by conjuring a flaming whip from her wand. From above, Tabitha was on her dragon with Kirche riding shotgun, both casting wind and fire spells from above in assist. One of the golem's attacks went flying astray, which was like a mud cannon ball. Henrietta was saved when Saito had tackled the princess out of the attack's path which destroyed the tree nearby upon collision.

Harry climbed up into the hole and sees Fouquet grabbing whatever she was after, and Harry lets out a battle cry, dropping down and almost hitting her with his blade. She counters by grabbing a katana half buried in a pile of gold coins and blocking him. She kicks hard but he ducks back and lashes out with a water whip, striking painfully at her hand, disarming her.

"Matilda."

That got the thief's attention. The magically-conjured water whip dissolves, splashing harmlessly on the marble flooring.

"How do you know my real name?" she threatened. She still had her wand.

"Tiffania sent Hermione and me to find you," he answers, still not letting his guard down. "She wanted you to come home to her... she misses you, and so do the children that she cares for at her orphanage in the forests under the White Country."

He takes out a necklace from one of his pocket and shows the unique item. It was the same necklace that Matilda/Lougueville had given to Tiffania the half-elf girl as a parting gift before she left.

"You're not lying..."

"Officially, we're hunting you down because Fouquet has a high reward for being a master thief and stealing from the nobles. Unofficially, we're here to ask you to go back home... you don't have to continue such a dangerous life. If else you can slip up, and make even the tiniest of a mistake, and she'll never see her sister again."

Matilda/Lougueville grimaced. What she did was dangerous indeed. Her thievery of treasure from the corrupt greedy nobles has earned their hate and if she ever did get caught, she would likely be publicly executed.

"What should I do then?" She relents.

"Escape with whatever you were searching for. But first, knock me out. And I really mean knock me out. We have to make this look real. And take this necklace with you. We're using it as part of our cover story, claiming it a family heirloom between us, me and my girlfriend Hermione."

Fouquet nods once, before she struck him hard, with the object of her desire from the vault's confines.

Blackness...

=0=0=0=0=

Ouch...

That hurt like a bitch...

"Harry, you okay?"

"Painful headache... She grabbed some long object wrapped in a heavy tarp and managed to get past my defenses. Practically clubbed me over the head with it and I was knocked out."

Hermione frowned. "The thief got away with what he stole, and still has the necklace. You're in the school's hospital ward. They found you in the vault when Colbert managed to open it up from the actual vault door. It's been a couple of hours since Fouquet attacked and successfully escaped with his prize."

She took the necklace that belonged to Tiffania. Good.

"Ahh, you're awake. I am glad," calls a voice. It was Princess Henrietta, with Headmaster Osmond and Professor Colbert.

"Hello, your majesty," the green-eyed teen greets.

Hermione gave a quick lady-like bow.

"So, you two were right. Fouquet attacked our school and managed to steal the Staff of Destruction." Osmond sighed wearily. "This does not bode well. The Staff of Destruction is a very dangerous artifact, and was rightfully placed in the vault so no one can ever use such a dangerous weapon."

Hermione frowned once more. "We're sorry sir we weren't able to prevent the thief from escaping. But when he taunted that he had knocked my boyfriend out, I had to check on him. Again, my sincerest apologies..."

Osmond waves it off.

"It is quiet alright. Considering he is technically your fiancé you had every right to be worried for his wellbeing. It only means you have such a loving bond with him."

"And we were so close. I was so close in grabbing the necklace he wore around his neck, but... close doesn't cut it," Harry grunted, angry at himself for failing to retrieve what was very important for him and his lover.

"You got a close view of his face, which is something not many nobles ever get," Colbert spoke up.

That was true.

"True. However Fouquet wore what looked like a black transparent cloth to cover his face while wearing the hood. So, facial memory is a moot point right now. Sorry."

Colbert closed his eyes. "Darn. Our mysterious thief is always so quick and dangerous. He's been able to break into high-security places and steal valuable treasures from the nobility. He is a bit of a terror in Tristania."

Lougueville entered the room. "I am sorry to interrupt but you weren't in your office, and I was told you went to visit our friend here."

"Ah. We were coming to see Sir Potter. The princess was most interested in meeting with him," says the Headmaster.

"Well, I have some news. Thanks to my investigation I conducted immediately after we discovered the crime, I have been able to locate him."

This elicits another gasp from Louise and Kirche. Yes, the girls, Tabitha, and Saito were with the adults, Louise mainly following Henrietta after she finished thanking Saito after the attack for saving her life from the stray earth magic technique.

"You found him! How did you accomplish this?" Louise asks.

"Several townsfolk have reported seeing a person with a black hooded cloak head to a hut in the forest. Thanks to them I believe I know where this hut is located."

"Ah, yes," begins the Headmaster, "That black hooded cloak is unmistakable. It must be Fouquet!"

"Headmaster, Princess, I believe it's best if you allow actual bounty hunters to track down Fouquet. No offense but if I'm thinking what you are thinking, sending academy students after a powerful Earth mage is paramount to suicide."

"So you HAVE done mercenary jobs before?" Osmond questioned Hermione.

"Only to generate a source of income... We only target those that have done despicable acts that would harm or even kill innocent people. Fouquet has once caused the landslide of a mountain village that injured hundreds of commoners. So the thief counts as a target of caution for us."

"If I may ask," Princess Henrietta speaks up, "but to speak the truth I have never heard of your families before."

"Not really. We may be nobles but we're not like Miss Vallière's family, or the Gramonts, or yours, princess. Our families are noble in title. Some of our family members are gifted with magic... some of us are born without magic. However regardless we live and love our family. But one day years ago, an uprising started to occur within Albion's kingdom. Even if we were noble by title, we were very powerful families."

"The people, who started the beginnings of the chaos that clouts Albion today, came to our parents, asking for allegiance because we were close to the King of Albion and supported his ruling. We refused to betray the kingdom. The dead of night, the same man who started the revolt led a thousand mercenaries trained to kill mages and attacked our families. Our parents had one of our trusted servants to whisk us away while the rest of the family fought against their attackers. Hermione and I are the only survivors of a massacre that left our families dead. The revolt group had destroyed any and all evidence that our families ever existed in Albion. We're the only proof of their once existence."

Harry and Hermione held dark looks, as if remembering painful memories while Henrietta was horrified. The others stared; they too shocked by this information. Tabitha had stopped reading her book and stared still with her neutral-like gaze, although her eyes radiated with some emotion.

"When we were old enough to walk and talk... our caretaker who raised us brought us back. You see, our families were unique. Our many times great grandparents have a type of treasure, not unlike the sacred treasures of the Founder Brimir... It is a unique artifact, a sacred heirloom for our families that had been sealed away by powerful magic. When Hermione and I were born, those ancient magic runes broke. Our caretaker had told us that it was a sign that we would be great mages as we reached adulthood. Our parents have arranged to fully unite our two families, the son and daughter married in bliss."

Hermione smiles fondly, caressing Harry's hand.

"It helps that as we grew up we have been very close, inseparable through adventure traveling Halkeginia. Then when we were eight, our caretaker was attacked by a rogue mage. She hid us away and fought off our attacker but was murdered. We thought we would die, but then our attacker walked away and left us alone in the mountains of Germania to fend for ourselves."

Harry picks up. "Ever since, having been instilled with surviving skills taught to us by our caretaker Erika, we survived in the wilderness. We found mages that were willing to train us in channeling our magic, self-learning our elements and everything. Three years ago, Fouquet stole the heirloom that we've retrieved from the family vault on Albion when we returned there one last time. Ever since, we have been hunting Fouquet to get back what belongs to us, so we can finally wed and honor the memories of our parents and our dead family."

"We were close... but close doesn't cut it. Thanks to your secretary here, we'll find Fouquet in this hut in the forests, and kill him."

Osmond nods. These two are noble. They have magic and displayed a unique mastery of ice and fire. But they also lived the life of a commoner, doing whatever to survive growing up. Osmond would never wish such a life upon any child, they be noble or commoner.

"I have no objection," said Princess Henrietta. "Sir Harry Potter of Albion, and Lady Hermione Granger of Albion, I hereby implore you to track down and, hopefully, capture Fouquet alive. I know that you two are not fully my subjects, but-"

"We understand, princess. One day you will take place as this country's queen, correct?" When she gave a sincere nod, Harry smiled. "The day you become Queen Henrietta de Tristian, Hermione and I will pledge our allegiances to you. Frankly, Hermione and I have grown tired of traveling and would like to find a place... where we can settle down together, raise a family..."

Hermione leans over and gives her boyfriend a loving kiss that had Kirche sigh romantically at the display. Henrietta was blushing, but she held such a warming smile. Osmond and Colbert glance at one another, amused at the sight of pure love, while Lougueville was making plans on how to escape. Likely the two mages before her are coming up with a way to likely fake her death as Fouquet.

Later that night, a carriage was sent out and on it were Harry and Hermione. Driving the carriage was Lougueville. When they were a fair distance from the academy, Harry looks to Matilda/Lougueville.

"Matilda. We know about Reconquista."

She looks at him.

"You're smarter than you let others to believe. And very cunning..."

Hermione laughs a bit.

"Yeah, well... not hard to trick people, we've been in this world for only eight years."

Matilda now looks at Hermione. "Wait, this world? What are you talking about?"

"Well Matilda, you know that you mages have this Springtime Ritual thing that we read up about. Where a mage in training would summon his or her familiar to prove they are of nobility and such?" Hermione smiled a bit. "Well apparently when you summon, you drag whatever most connects to you and bam, you have a familiar. For some mages, only few are lucky to summon another human to be their familiar. OR so the rumors go about identifying Void Mages by their human familiar."

"Wait... that Vallière girl-"

Harry cuts in with the answer, "Is a Void Mage because she had summoned Saito Hiraga from the world Hermione and I am from to Halkeginia. You see Matilda... Hermione and I physically are twenty five years old. In our world, magic also exists there but the world of magic is hidden from the mundane, humans that cannot do magic. There was an evil man, a terrorist of a wizard who went by the name Lord Voldemort. His real name was Tom Riddle. He believed in the control of our world, the death of muggles, non-magic people, and the control of both the muggle world and the wizarding world with only magicals that were deemed as Purebloods."

"Unlike here Matilda, in our world, in the Wizarding World, it's all dominated by blood purity. Purebloods are wizards and witches who have lived in the Wizarding World for centuries and never once venture into the muggle world. Then we have Half-Bloods. My boyfriend is a half-blood wizard, born from a muggleborn mother and a pureblood father."

"Muggleborn? Half-blood?"

"I would be a muggleborn. I was born from a family whom had virtually no magic in the bloodline, and yet I was gifted with the ability to perform magic. It is muggleborns like I that Voldemort and most corrupt purebloods that follow the Dark Lord that they despise. The purebloods that follow Voldemort believe muggles are filth that must be exterminated, and muggleborns an abomination that God should never have allowed to exist. He and the ilk that pledge loyalty to Voldemort were supremacists, believing in a world where magic was the dominate force and those who do not magic are either subjected as slaved or exterminated like garbage."

"We were seventeen years old, when Voldemort managed to wrest control over the magical government of the United Kingdom. I, Hermione, and a third former friend of ours were tasked with plotting the destruction of Voldemort's forces, and the downfall of Voldemort himself. One day, we were running for our lives. Hermione and I have been alone for awhile because halfway in our adventure our third friend abandoned us. A fucking coward who wanted hot family meals and the safety of his family than help us bring Voldemort's downfall."

Hermione gains a dark look, recalling how Ron had yelled at them, making accusinations about secret trysts and all that garbage, before storming away from the tent. She once was in love with the jealous git, but now... she had someone who truly loved her for who she was. When Ron vanished, yes it had hurt her for a time but Harry comforted her, shielded her. He was just as hurt as she was; having been abandoned like trash.

"We were in the Dean Forest when Voldemort's forces, a special group called Snatchers, discovered our location and teleported in to kill us. We were running for our lives, whilst fighting back with our magic skills, when all of a sudden we fell into a green portal that appeared out of nowhere. We tumbled through a tunnel of light before blacking out. When we came to, we were in a vast field of green and there was a lake nearby. We also have apparently regressed from seventeen years old to eight years old. We de-aged..."

Harry looked away.

"We were confused, wondering what happened. Confused as to where we were. We saw two moons in the sky and knew that we weren't on Earth anymore, our home world. We traveled to a nearby city the following morning after making a makeshift camp by the lake, and with our Earth magic, learned the language of this world and discovered we were in Halkeginia." Harry sighed. "For a time, we plotted for a way to find a way back home but we eventually gave up. We don't know what happened back at home. With us gone, we would figure that our world is now under the iron-fisted rule of Voldemort and his group he calls Death Eaters."

Matilda was absorbing this all. She wanted to call them liars, but she knew that somehow... they weren't lying.

"Everything we told you is the absolute truth, and we swear on our magic our origins are the truth, so mote it be," Harry and Hermione state, confusing Matilda as they raised their wands from under those vambraces they wore. Then she was slightly blinded by a vivid bright glow of white that radiated from the tips of their wands.

"What we did was swear a magical oath. It's used to show to those who are in the disbelief or uneasily trusted that what we have told you is the truth. If we had been lying before we made the oath, magic would punish us for the lies. Of course, most wizards and witches that are asked to make such truth-binding oaths to prove they were telling the truth when they weren't try to get out of making such a declaration, proving their untrusting. Those that do, usually prove they still have magic by casting a spell..."

Harry lifts his wand up, the same time as Hermione did. They then cast together, "_Expecto Patronum!_"

Silvery white light explodes form their wands like swirling mists, startling the horses and shocking Matilda as the carriage abruptly stopped. The swirling white silver mists took shape, forming two deer. One was a stag that belonged to Harry, and Hermione's was a doe. Both silvery creatures of light pranced in the air for a few moments before stopping before them. Matilda was in awe. She also felt... happy... warm...

They were telling the truth.

The two deer nuzzle one another before looking up towards their summoners, and then explode into wisps of dancing lights that fade up into the night skies.

"A-amazing!"

"The magic we have is very different from the magic you and other mages use, Matilda; however our magic is more flexible. It's not limited to any of the four elements of Fire, Water, Earth, and Wind. We can conjure storms if we're powerful enough. I can utilize lightning-elemental magic, mainly through my flintlock pistol I have strapped to my waist," Harry told Matilda, who got the carriage going again.

"Magic is also very expansive. We can also create runes empowered by magic to do a many number of great things. And Harry and I have since learned that magic can be used for both good and evil. It's the caster who decides whether to use magic to help people, or to cause irreversible harm and death."

"There ARE some magical spells in our world that is completely attuned to the dark. Three of them are very dangerous and in our magical world, transgressors of the Unforgivables are imprisoned for life."

Hermione lists three of them. "The Imperious Curse, which is used to completely take control of another person's mind, making that target a slave to your very whims. The Cruciatus Curse, which makes the target feel unimaginable pain beyond anything you've ever experienced. Prolonged exposure or repeated uses on a single target can lead the victim to complete insanity. And finally the Killing Curse, which does what it means: kill the target regardless. Even the most powerful or magically-resistant will fall to this illegal curse. The only known defense against it is solid objects like stone or marble to block it, although it DOES destroy what you used to shield yourself with."

Matilda listened, asking some questions about their magic world form their home world, and they answered to the best of their ability. She was surprised to learn that their world was not like Halkeginia. The "muggles" lived in a society where royalty and nobility doesn't exist or rule over the lesser commoners, except the land they were from, the United Kingdom, or Britain. Of course, Queen Elizabeth and the Royal Crown ruled as a kingdom but also as a type of government; it is kind of hard to describe but Hermione answered well for Matilda. But Matilda was intrigued that commoners, or those who can't do magic, were able to create governments in the other countries of their home world not ruled by a monarchy.

As the travel to her hiding place drew closer, she inquired on what they did when they had gone through a random magic portal that led to Halkeginia. They gave her a story that surprised her. But of course, story time ended when they arrived. And back to the subject on Reconquista, Matilda indeed told them that she was bribed well by the conspirators of Reconquista leading Albion to its downfall. She had been tasked to steal the Staff of Destruction which Reconquista would use to target other countries to bring about a new ruling. She would be disappointed when this supposed Staff of Destruction was really a weapon from Harry and Hermione's world, and that the "rocket launcher" had no ammo. It would be a very clever use of a paper weight or a bludgeoning device (like she used on Harry to knock him out inside the vault).

Here and now, Matilda was willing to defect from Reconquista. She did miss Tiffania. Hermione created a Portkey using the rocket launcher, telling her to hold onto it until her trip was over. She explained what a Portkey was, and warned her first-time experiences were disorienting, but it guaranteed a quick one-way safe trip to Tiffania. She kept the necklace, but in exchange gave them two beautiful jeweled rings as a way of saying thank you. Then Hermione activated the Portkey and Matilda vanished.

Harry transfigured a thick log into the body of Matilda, and then put a bullet in the fake body's skull before kicking it over the cliff and into the dark crevice below. A minute later a gust of wind displaced as a wind dragon appeared, carrying, much to their shock, Louise, Kirche, Tabitha, and Saito.

"I heard a gunshot! What happened?" Saito asked. He was familiar with the sound of guns, being from Earth.

Harry stared back at them.

"Hermione and I destroyed the Staff of Destruction, and he refused to give up. So I killed him. He fell off the cliff and into the crevice behind us."

"I bet this ravine is very deep. It'll take a long time to reach the bottom just to recover his corpse. Hard to survive when a human gets their head blown up," Hermione casually says, ignoring the wincing from the teens.

Harry made a show of spinning his flintlock pistol before holstering it.

"Fouquet is dead... and Hermione and I lost the necklace. However we did get what was on the necklace."

They reveal the beautiful rings Matilda gave them.

=0=0=0=0=

"Fouquet of the Crumbling Earth is dead. I used this, pulled the trigger. Bang. He has a hole in his forehead and we watch the corpse tumble off the cliff and into the ravine."

Hermione smiled here. "We did get back what we had stolen from us... and with these rings we can finally get married."

That was the short report. They were to be commended for their actions, granted Chevalier title for permanently stopping the famous earth mage thief. They had also said that Fouquet had killed Lougueville in the earlier ambush and her body crushed and absorbed by the wave of mud that tried to wash them off the cliff, and they fought back. Louise wanted to try and offer help but she and the others were late in arriving; only hearing the gunshot that ended whatever duel they missed.

Harry and Hermione excused themselves as they wanted to retire to their guest quarters for the rest of the evening. The two men were surprised that Sir Harry had a flintlock pistol. Not many use those guns aside some knights in the kingdom. It was supposed to be like a shrunk-down version of a castle's cannon, made to be held in your hand. But of course, with Fouquet forever gone, the ball that was going to be canceled went on as scheduled.

Harry and Hermione once reaching their rooms seal the place down again with threw up privacy wards.

"So... what do we do from here? We helped Tiffania bring Matilda back to her."

"Well... we plan a way to stop Reconquista," he answered.

"You really think Louise Vallière will discover that she's a Void Mage?" she questioned aloud, taking her clothes off.

Harry grinned.

"Sweetie, I have a feeling that she'll soon learn what her supposed "element" really is. We DID drop a few subtle hints. And Old Man Osmond is sharper than he projects behind that grandfather visage he eludes. He's almost as shrewd as Dumbledore..."

"And Saito the Void Familiar. He's a muggle, you know. I couldn't feel any magic coming off him except for those runes burned on his one hand."

"Yeah, so coming to a world where magic exists. I doubt he knew of the Wizarding World back on Earth..."

Harry trails off, remembering the pinnacle point they were at regarding the destruction of Voldemort's Horcruxes before their disappearance from Earth via the magic portal.

"Do you still feel guilty?"

Harry finished undressing.

"Sometimes, babe. We disappeared. Vanished... missing forever. We were close in finding the rest of the Horcruxes, and destroying them. But now, with the main threat gone, no doubt Voldemort stepped up his game of terror. Maybe he caused enough damage that the muggle world finally caught wind and... Well I'd imagine the worse of the situation: the wizarding world invaded by the muggle military, killing Voldemort's Death Eaters and supporters..."

"The nightmare the magicals feared coming true... you think things have gotten better or worse?"

"Both, probably... maybe one day, we can find a way to get back home again. And if we do, figure out the state of our world. I just wonder what our friends, if they're still alive, think seeing us virtually different."

"Well, if I ever see Ronald Weasley again, I'm taking your gun and shooting his dick off. That bastard should never be given the chance to breed."

Harry chuckled. "He probably got the short end of the stick when he was born. I mean, having all those other Weasleys before Ron, and then Ginny?"

Hermione wraps her arms around her boyfriend, pressing her body against his back. "If we have kids Harry, I would like a son and a daughter... not pop out baby after baby like Molly did."

"That's a scary thought... what if we never came to this world? I'd have been married to Ginny and you to Ron likely... one perfect Weasley family." At the end of that sentence, Harry drawls off into a sarcastic manner.

"Oh god, don't you DARE joke about that! Me a Molly 2.0? Freaky!"

"Oh... you know what... I think we may have a long overdue for Fred and George."

She blinked. "Why?"

Harry chuckles.

"Well, babe... I once overheard them making a pooling bet on our love lives. They made a bet that likely after Hogwarts you and I would get together instead of splitting off and finding others. A lot of our friends are in the belief that we're destined for one another. Imagine the surprise when we return hopefully with wedding bands on our fingers?"

She laughs. "That is kind of funny..."

He turned around and holds her.

"I can't imagine my life without you, Hermione."

"Same here, Harry."

The two lean close for a kiss. Just one kiss, which turned into another kiss, then another... and another. As they collapse onto the bed, their happy make-out breaks off briefly, giving Hermione enough time to blow the candles of the desk lamp off via a swish of her wand. Then the wand is discarded on the counter as they resume making out in the dark, with only the twin moons reflecting light that shine through the silk transparent curtains.

Somewhere in the desert, a swirling watery-like portal emerged. Then with a displaced pop, several adults fall into the sandy ground, a human pile-up. They all wore wizarding robes.

"Shite, Susan! Get off me, your heavy!"

Susan sharply elbows her husband Neville on the head, making him yelp in pain.

This strange group manages to get up, and get a look at their surroundings. The ritual they had planned for years finally paid off. Luna Lovegood smiles dreamily, as the cold air blows by, drifting up some loose sand from a nearby dune.

"Well... I guess we're not in Kansas, anymore," she quotes _The Wizard of Oz_.

"Where are we? Egypt?" asks Hannah.

"Looks like it, but I see no pyramids," said Bill Weasley.

His brother Charlie and his wife, Fleur, also look around, wands drawn. Ginny was standing next to Ron, Neville, and Susan. Kingsley, Tonks, and Remus were also among the group.

"Uh, I don't think this is Egypt," spoke Neville, as he was looking up at the sky. All eyes followed suit, and mouths dropped.

Two moons hung in the air. One was blue, the other was red. Both were full tonight, however as Remus was a werewolf, a full moon meant that he should have transformed into a werewolf upon gazing at the moon, or in this case moons. But... he did not transform despite the others immediately going cautious around the last surviving Marauder, and surviving godfather to Harry. There were a few clouds in the night sky tonight, but from here, no electricity meant the stars were the brightest. Hell, they couldn't make out any known constellations in the stars above. Everything looked so... alien...

"Where the bloody hell are we?" Tonks blurted out.

They were in Halkeginia. But they didn't know that... yet...

* * *

**That's all that came to mind. I'm done writing this one-shot down. Yes, a one-shot. Harry and Hermione have been in Halkeginia for eight years. They do not know of what happened on Earth since their disappearance. They may have given up wanting to go back home but they still hold onto a small glimmer of hope they would one day rediscover a way to get back home, but are not in any rush.**

**But, now things would get complicated because familiar faces from the Wizarding World have cracked a path and entered Halkeginia in search for the missing wizards, Harry Potter and Hermione Granger. But they don't know they're in a different world, yet. Yes, I left Saito's character alone, although in Harry Potter aspects, he's a muggle so he doesn't know about the Wizarding World (on Earth). However, before the little sword duel between him and Harry, Harry had revealed that he had magic, and that he was (at least in front of the others) a noble mage because he revealed his wizard wand.**

**So Saito would be questioning as to whom Harry and Hermione really are. Other main characters of the Familiar of Zero series would also be questioning who they are. The story if continued would mostly follow the manga and anime of the FOZ series, but with Harry and Hermione a main character stable, and side adventures of the Ministry Group having entered Halkeginia in the belief of finding the missing Harry and Hermione. Both sides would eventually collide, at the same time Reconquista began their campaign of taking control of Halkeginia. And I would have had Harry save Wales' life, and he would be a character who doesn't die like in canon.**

**Well... I had fun with this plot bunny but it's satisfied with what I fed it. What do you think? Interesting enough? There's not a lot of HP/FOZ crossovers... there should be more.**


End file.
